Va. man charged with Joppa armed robbery

AEGIS STAFF REPORT

A Virginia man is being held at the Harford County Detention Center in Bel Air after he was arrested and charged in connection with the armed robbery of a Joppa convenience store Tuesday evening, Maryland State Police said.

Andrew Martin Javoroski, 22, of the 16000 block of Sheffield Lane in Dumfries, Va., is charged with first- and second-degree assault, robbery, armed robbery, unlawful taking of a motor vehicle, unauthorized removal of property and theft between $10,000 and $100,000, according to Maryland online court records.

Javoroski was initially being held on $250,000 bail, but he was ordered held without bail, pending an evaluation, during a bail review hearing Thursday afternoon before District Court Judge Mimi Cooper.

At the start of the hearing, Cooper asked Javoroski if he was taking his medication and if he had been hearing voices. Javoroski, who appeared on a TV screen for the hearing, said he had been hearing voices for the past month but had not told anyone about it.

He also said he hadn't been to the doctor in several months.

Public Defender Omar Simpson added that Javoroski takes medication for bipolar disorder and has support from family and friends in Virginia, including his father who made the drive up to the courthouse Thursday. Simpson suggested a mental health evaluation, as did Assistant State's Attorney Donald Walter, who requested that he be held without bond.

"Mr. Javoroski is very dangerous, not only to himself but those in the community," Walter said.

Cooper also said that Javoroski's symptoms suggest possible schizophrenia. She also ordered Simpson to officially enter his appearance in the case, saying that regardless of whether Javoroski filed for the public defender in case, he was not mentally fit to do so.

At 9:29 p.m. Tuesday, troopers from the Bel Air Barrack and deputies from the Harford County Sheriff's Office responded to the Citgo gas station and High's convenience store at 910 Philadelphia Road in Joppa for a report of an armed robbery and assault. The store is near the Route 152/I-95 interchange.

Responding officers were told a man entered the store, threatened an employee with a knife and demanded the keys to a Volkswagen parked outside, according to a news release from the state police Bel Air Barrack.

The victim complied and the suspect fled onto I-95 in the stolen Volkswagen. The victim was not injured, police said.

Troopers from the JFK Highway Barrack soon found the vehicle traveling north on I-95 in Perryville and stopped it. According to the news release, the occupant, identified as Javoroski, became combative and displayed what was believed to be a knife at troopers.

Javoroski was taken into custody after a brief struggle during which he was not injured, according to the state police news release.

After Javoroski was secured it was discovered that the object that he displayed at the Citgo and on I-95 was a piece of sharpened cement which appeared to be a knife, according to the release.